
City Developments' launching plans for posh projects still shady
They're worried over dull buying interest.
According to Nomura, CDL plans to launch D’Nest (912 units) and Bartley Ridge (868 units) in the near-term. The Buangkok Drive project (616 units) and the Sengkang EC project (372 units) could follow next.
On the other hand, launch plans for its higher-end projects, such as Lucky Tower (220 units), South Beach (190 units) and Nouvel 18 (156 units) remain uncertain.
The launch of CDL’s maiden project in Eling, Chongqing, appears to be deferred as well.
Here's more from Nomura:
The tone of management commentary appears to have become more cautious compared with three months ago. For instance, while management had expected “property prices to remain stable with moderate increases of varying degrees, depending on location and unique propositions” three months ago, it now expects “property prices to remain somewhat stable” and “buying interest in the mass- and mid-market projects could moderate over the next few months”.
CDL’s hotel business also appears to be facing rising competition. On a like-for-like basis, overall RevPAR was down 1.1% in the first six weeks of 2013, with falls in main gateway cities such as Singapore (-10.2%), London (-9.6%) and New York (-1.6%).